It was ten days after the second task, nine days after the hate mail incident, and two days until Valentine's day. The air was buzzing with excitement as students planned the day.
Hermione found it rather annoying. She didn't think that anyone should need a holiday to tell another how they felt. And it had become more of a commercial holiday than anything else with all the chocolate hearts and red roses.
Neville was feeling almost the same way that Hermione was, but with a sadder perspective on things. He guessed that he might like the holiday, if he had someone special to share it with. But he guessed that he shouldn't be so grumpy. After all, fourteen wasn't a bad time to spend Valentine's day with friends.
On the other hand, Padma was excited. Like Neville, she wasn't dating anyone. But she was planning on something for all her friends. And Hermione, though amused by her antics, found that she didn't disapprove of it the way that she did of those planning to use Valentine's day to ask someone out.
She wasn't mad at the couples going on dates. Most of them would be going that day, since it was Saturday, and a Hogsmeade weekend. She and Viktor were on a date, but they had done that pretty much every chance they had gotten.
They were strolling along next to the lake, enjoying the solitude that the weekend gave them. It was nice to get away and have a moment alone. With the fangirls still trailing Viktor, it was difficult for them.
Hermione leaned into Viktor, her head resting on his arm. She loved the clean scent of his soap, it smelling like mountains and musk. It wasn't strong, but she enjoyed it.
"Vhat are you thinking?" Viktor asked.
Hermione's face flushed. "I was thinking that you smell nice," she muttered.
"Is better than opposite," Viktor laughed. "You also smell nice."
Hermione ran a hand through her hair, grateful that she'd managed to brush it before the curls had knotted up. It was a nervous habit of hers to run a hand through her hair, and it often caused pain when she forgot to untangle the knots in her hair first.
"What is your family like?" Hermione blurted out.
"You vill get a chance to meet my parents," Viktor said. "They are coming for the third task. I am thinking they vill get here a few days before, but vill likely stay in Hogsmeade."
"I wish you could meet my parents," Hermione said. "Unfortunately Hogwarts is impossible for muggles to find. I suppose they could get here if someone brought them, but it would be very unusual for them."
"I think I haff an idea." He steered her away from the lake and towards the forest, being sure to keep the castle in his sight. "If your parents can get to Hogsmeade, I can haff my parents meet them."
"That's brilliant!" Hermione exclaimed. She threw her arms around Viktor's neck and kissed him.
He pulled her closer, deepening the kiss. The world seemed to melt away. It was just the two of them, holding onto one another.
When they stopped to breathe, Hermione was gripping onto Viktor's cloak like her life depended on it. Her legs were rather shaky, so she was very glad his arms were still holding onto her.
"If all brilliant ideas haff a revard like this, I vill haff to haff more." He kissed her forehead.
"I don't think that you'll need to," Hermione said as she blushed profusely.
"And vhat exactly do you mean by that?" Viktor tilted her chin so that she was looking at him.
"I mean that I don't mind kissing you. And that you don't need a brilliant idea for me to kiss you." She nervously pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, knowing that it wouldn't stay for long.
"Vell then," he said before he bent down to capture her lips again.
She smiled into the kiss. A small giggle warbled in her chest and she pulled away, trying to stifle the laughter.
"Vhat?" Viktor asked, seeing the grin on her face though she tried to hide it behind her hands.
"Nothing." Her face was turning red with the effort to not laugh. And she was failing. "I really don't know what's going on."
Viktor held her close, laughing a little as her giggles wiggled through her. Her laughter reverberated through him, and was rather contagious.
After a few minutes Hermione managed to calm down. She still felt giddy, her nerves abandoning her. But she still had one concern.
"Do you think your parents will like me?" she asked.
"Her-my-oh-nin, they vill loff you." He said it so earnestly that there was no room for doubt.
They walked around the lake, talking about their families. Viktor had one sister, who was at Durmstrang and hadn't come since they had only brought people eligible for the tournament. She was quite bright and at the top of her class.
Hermione was an only child. And she had always wanted a brother or sister, but she doubted that she would ever have one. Her parents said that one child was more than enough for them, and doubly so since she was a witch.
Viktor had laughed at that. He thought that with how driven and studious Hermione was she wouldn't get into too much trouble. Boy was he wrong.
She had then told him of how she had brewed polyjuice potion her second year, and stolen the ingredients necessary. His jaw had dropped at the idea of a thirteen-year-old brewing a potion that even N.E.W.T. students had trouble with.
"Vhat? How? Vhy?"
"The chamber of secrets had been opened and was petrifying students. We were fairly certain that one of the Slytherins had opened the chamber, and wanted to interrogate him. He was innocent, but we didn't' find that out before the potion," she explained. "And then there was another little matter."
Hermione went on to explain that she had found out the hard way that the potion was only supposed to be used with human hair. She had spent a month in the hospital wing, recovering from being turned into a humanoid version of a cat. It was awful.
"The worst part was the hairballs," Hermione said. "I know that cats have them, but since I hadn't "groomed" that way I wasn't expecting them. It was horrible."
Even though she was describing the bad parts, a smile was on her face. It was nice to share things like that with someone. And the fact that he wasn't Harry or Ron made it better. He didn't tease her for not knowing about polyjuice potion and animal hair. He was just impressed.
They continued on walking until Hermione's stomach growled. It wasn't until that point that either of them realized that they were hungry.
"I guess it's time for food," Hermione said.
"Vhich is a very good idea."
They climbed the path back up to the castle. It wasn't dark yet, but it wasn't quite lunch time anymore. Hermione pulled Viktor up the stairs to a portrait of a fruit bowl.
"Vhat are ve doing here?" Viktor asked as she tickled the pear.
"Just wait." A handle appeared from the pear and Hermione led Viktor into the kitchens.
There were dozens of house elves bustling around, cleaning dishes from lunch and making dinner. There were even a few who popped in and out either to clean common rooms or do laundry.
Viktor looked around in amazement. He'd never seen so many house elves in one place. Sure his family owned a few, but it was a family of four, not the thirty or so odd elves that bustled around the kitchen. But then he supposed more elves were needed to take care of hundreds of teenagers.
"What can Mitzy get for you?" an elf asked.
"Something warm," Hermione said. "But not too filling. We would still like to have dinner later."
"Soup?" Viktor asked.
Hermione shook her head. "No soup. I've had enough soup this past week to last a lifetime. Or at least the rest of the month. Maybe a grilled cheese sandwhich?"
Mitzy nodded and got soup for Viktor and a sandwhich for Hermione. They ate in relative silence, having talked through most of the morning and afternoon. It wasn't awkward.
A strange vision flashed through them of them sitting together eating dinner together. It was a house, one that neither of them had ever seen before. And the scene changed, days blending together. Years passed. Children were born and grew up.
The vision disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared, and both of them looked at each other. Hermione was convinced that it was her imagination. It was all too easy to imagine the future with Viktor, and her mind must have just gotten carried away.
Viktor felt that it was what could be. No future was ever set in stone. That was why half of the prophecies were so cryptic, so that they could be interpreted one way or another. But it was the future he wanted to see.
Neither of them would admit it, but they were developing deep feelings for each other. Perhaps it was the nature of being soulmates, but being together felt so natural.
After their food, they parted ways to go meet their friends coming back from Hogsmeade. Neville practically ran over to her.
"Thank goodness you weren't there," he gasped. "Harry and Cho are revoltingly, sickeningly, mushy."
"I believe that," she laughed looking over at the happy couple. Apparently Cho had enjoyed the tea shop.
Ron walked over from a carriage he had shared with Ginny and the Lovegood girl in her year. They were just enjoying the time away from the castle, and Ron had decided it would be better to go with them than Harry and Cho.
"How was your day Mione?"
"Pretty good. A little cold, but it beats being surrounded by tons of people watching you. And you don't have to deal with that," she pointed over to Harry and Cho.
"Yeah. We were walking around with them at the beginning of the trip. We went to Honeyduke's together. It was horrible," Ron said.
"Ron and I ditched them after that and spent most of the trip at Zonko's," Neville added.
"But we got split up at the Three Broomsticks," Ron added. "I found Ginny and Luna, and Neville wandered outside and found Harry and Cho getting ready to catch a carriage."
They started back to the great hall, Ron and Neville telling her everything.
"But the worst part wasn't Harry and Cho. It was that there were a thousand couples like them all over the place," Neville said.
"Valentine's day," Ron said.
"I told you it was a worthless holiday. Just make sure to avoid any chocolates on Monday," Hermione said.
A/N: So lots of Viktor in this chapter. Yay!